Pierce writes: "Over the past 10 years, and particularly over the past three, we have seen as a consistent strategy by conservative Republicans thinking, and then acting, on the unthinkable."

Grover Norquist raised the specter of impeachment in a recent interview with the National Journal. (photo: Cliff Owen/AP)

Grover Norquist's 'Impeach Obama' Fantasy

By Charles P. Pierce, Esquire Magazine

31 January 12

ne of the more piquant passages in the interview that Mark Warren and I did with former President Bill Clinton, which appears in this month's production of Esquire: The Magazine is this part right at the top where Clinton talks about a change of heart experienced by a former GOP congresscritter named Bob Inglis, who lost in a primary in 2010 because he said disrespectful things about Glenn Beck but who, in the giddy years of the late 1990's, wielded his pitchfork most enthusiastically in the cause of impeaching Clinton, an effort for which he recently apologized, according to the former president, who nonetheless told us:

I had a fascinating meeting with Bob Inglis the other day. Bob Inglis was an extremely conservative Republican congressman from South Carolina. He was a three-term-pledge guy in the nineties.... So he came to me and he said, "I just want you to know, when you got elected, I hated you. And I asked to be on the Judiciary Committee in 1993, because a bunch of us had already made up our minds that no matter what you did or didn't do, we were going to find some way to impeach you. We hated you. You had no right to be president."

This has been a consistent something-more-than-a-rumor ever since Bill Clinton took office - that the Republicans wanted him removed from the first day he took office, and that they were not waiting for a crime so much as they were waiting for the moment when they had the votes to do it. (That this is a monumental act of contempt for the people who elected him their president should not concern us here, because it apparently never concerned the Republicans.) At this point, of course, impeachment was still considered by the country at large to be a constitutional artifact, as it had been even at the beginning of the country. Thomas Jefferson was both wary of the political uses to which it could be put, and also prone to ridiculing the whole notion. In 1798, in a letter to James Madison, Jefferson called it "the most formidable weapon for the purpose of dominant faction that ever was contrived." Twenty-two years later, in another letter, this one to Thomas Ritchie, he famously dismissed it as a "scarecrow."

However, in committing themselves essentially to the impeachment of Bill Clinton with or without criminal cause, and simply because they had the votes for it, the Republicans seriously upped the ante, and they put flesh on Jefferson's scarecrow into the bargain. It was seriously argued in Republican circles that it is within Congress's power to impeach the president if they simply do not like the policies he attempts to enact. (In her impeachment book, Ann Coulter surmises that President George H.W. Bush theoretically could have been impeached for raising taxes, and thereby breaking a promise he'd made in accepting the Republican nomination in 1988.) I followed this whole thing pretty closely in 1997 and 1998 and I don't recall any of our prominent pundits, or many of the people covering the events, mentioning at the time that the Republicans were preparing to impeach Clinton for something just about from the moment his hand left the Bible, which is pretty much what Inglis copped to when he spoke to the former president more recently.

Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

Yes, and I have made "no effort" to convince Holy Mother Church to close St. Patrick's and open up a fried-dough stand in its place.

Over the past 10 years, and particularly over the past three, we have seen as a consistent strategy by conservative Republicans thinking, and then acting, on the unthinkable. Nobody ever used the filibuster the way they have. All the "gentlemen's agreements" that grease the wheels of the legislative process have become dead letters, no matter what dunces like Evan Bayh say. If you don't think they won't try this farce again, elect them majorities in both houses and see what happens.

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The President bent over backwards to work with the Party of No ever since he took office, to no avail. Their only agenda is to bring him down and they don't care that they throw us under the bus. The Republicans have become an erratic bunch of lying nuts. Not fit for the seats they hold. They are being paid, and lots of benefits too, to do nothing. They just won't even bring up a Bill for a vote or block it or vote NO, if it finally makes it to a vote. They are a disgrace to the once great government we had. Impeach Obama? They are that delusional. Maybe we should impeach all of them for doing absolutely nothing to earn their pay.

Actually, Barbara, we should make Citizen's arrests against the ENTIRE Newbie Congress for dereliction of duty and failure to act on ANYTHING, even Legislation they put forth or initially supported! As soon as the President acquiesced to their INANE demands, they INSANELY, ceased to support it! They are ALL Lunatics who, as you say so aptly, are not fit for the seats they hold! Remember, Fellow Citizens, and Vote their sorry a**es OUT on Election Day! The People, UNITED, will NEVER be defeated!

angelfish, I agree wholeheartedly with you. I hope the people get out to vote. We need every single vote to get the Congress cleaned up from the Tbagging Rethugs! We need to save ourselves, they are out to drown us in the bathtub they want to "shrink the government down to so they can drown it in the bathtub" with us.Get that disgusting bunch of wasted space out of our way and out of Obama's way, so that something good can be accomplished.

I agree Barbara, wasn't it Beohner who said his prime objective was to see that President Obama wasn't re-elected -- not governing the Country, but seeing that President Obama wasn't re-elected.

And I wonder who Norquist thinks would take over if President Obama is impeached? Doesn't he know that V.P. Biden would take the reins? I think he'd make the Rep.s pay Hell for doing that while he was in office for the remainder of the term.

Actally WSH, it was Senator Mitch McConnell who said that a few times from the well of the Senate of all places. What a disgrace he is to the Senate. Time for him to be thrown out. But, also, Boehner did say it too in the House. I just happen to watch the Senate and House and saw them make the statements for myself.

The Republicans in office have been derelict in their duty to represent their constituents, and instead mostly represent their campaign donors. But trouble-makers like Norquist make matters worse. His pledge demands that Republicans place their loyalty to an ideology -- no tax increases (except on poor people) -- above their obligation to act in the interest of the country and the Constitution.

But trouble-makers like Norquist make matters worse. His pledge demands that Republicans place their loyalty to an ideology -- no tax increases (except on poor people) -- above their obligation to act in the interest of the country and the Constitution.

Too bad we can't impeach Norquist.

We can't impeach him but with the new fascist powers given him by the NDAA, it seems the President could have him seized and held indefinitely, since among the first things he did upon graduation from college was to go to Afghanistan to work with the Taliban and to work with other terrorist groups in South America. The NDAA is an aberration but the Pres will just have to make o with what he's got.

I'm 75 years old and on my 13th president. I've lived my whole life in, probably, the lower 1/3 of the middle class and, without exception, my circumstances and those of my family, have always bee better when the Democrats were in control.

Barbara K, you just described the Democratic Senate which has refused to come out with a budget for years now, and that same Democratic Senate refuses to vote on many bills introduced by the House. You really have done a great job of describing the stall in the function of Congress by the Democratic Senate.

The Republicans have their crazy agendas against birth control and teaching evolution and social security and are willing to go to insane lengths to promote them.

But when the Democrats held a majority in both houses in 2009-2010 and the White House they were powerless to do anything about defunding the wars or even allow lawsuits against the telecoms for spying on the citizens.

So why if the Republicans can give it all they got for their insanity, why oh why can't the Democrats give it all they got for something good?

The Dems were still living down their bad image from previous years. They were trying to show everybody that they could out-Republican the Republicans because everybody loved the Republicans.

As they will do, the tables are turning. Nothing is forever. The only thing that does not change is the fact that things change.

As did the Dems, the GOP has overreached. I think the President is a brilliant guy, but he seems to lack the stage presence of the movie actor. This isn't exactly a nation of rocket scientists, so that matters. We'll just have to muddle along with what we've got.

I know it has been said many, many times before, but the GOP are nothing but corrupt puppets for the one percent. These days, it's merely a pipe dream to witness congressional members work on behalf of the people's interests. So much for representation, eh? Toss all those babies out with the filthy bath water in 2012.

I have said it before and will continue to repeat until Nov. It is time for this Congress to go. They do nothing and care nothing for the people of this nation. It is time to get rid of them. Mc Connell and Boner should be the top of the list. They have no respect for the office of the president. Why are we paying them to sit on their butts and lie?

What ever happened to Reagan's 11th commandment? The Republican Party today is making Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,and Dwight D. Eisenhower spin in their graves. May they all expire in their poisonous rhetoric.

Maybe we're looking at a silver lining here. They are tap dancing ever more feverishly and desperately for a shrinking audience of cranks. We know those folks well from reading their posts mostly on news sites and Occupy forums.

While a lot of mainstream folks out there are still not quite ready to stomach the Dems because of their old baggage and because they have not really become good progressives yet either, a lot of them are.

After all, the Dems fought and won for health care reform, **which is a very good thing and an historical achievement** and has been excoriated as all very good things and historical achievements always are in their time, and not *everybody* has completely missed that point. (Remember that Abe Lincoln was very unpopular in his time.)

Today's Republicans are a far cry from Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, and FDR, a totally different breed. All they have to offer is "poisonous rhetoric" -- no service to the nation, just obeisance to crackpot ideology.

FDR was a Democrat. By the time he was in office, the repug philosophy about dealing with the Depression was pretty much what it is today about dealing with our current economic situation. The only big differences are that, back then, poor racists in the South still had the Democratic Party. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 changed that permanently. Nixon capitalized on it and now, racists vote repug, even if it means going against their own economic interests. The other difference is the one you pointed out, that our country is a lot more corrupt, divisive and uncivil now (racism aside) than it was at the time of the last Great Depression.

What is the matter with Americans that they continue to put these neanderthals in office? Do we need our own "Arab Spring" to restore a democratic republic to this land? It is not enough to just not vote for a republican; we must vote for individuals who truly believe that paying taxes is the price of living in a civilized society. It is a burden that we should go gratefully and those whose only endeavor is to avoid taxes demonstrate a treasonous personal quality.

BTW, are these the same bums who shout "support the troops" and "don't cut the military budget" and then don't want to pay the taxes necessary to pay for these activities?

We have not seen such incivility in Washington in my lifetime, which is getting to be a

There was a time when members of Congress didn't leave Washington as often as they do now. They were forced to spend time together and get to know each other. They were more likely to be friends, and party affiliation didn't make that much difference.

For that reason, I think that the nation's capital should be moved to Barrow, Alaska, and there should only be four flights in and out per year.

I agree but not to Barrow, Alaska. Sarah Palin would find some way to get herself immersed in the activities and would attempt to move things in her direction. A solution would be to leave them in Washington but prohibit any direct political contact with anyone who is not a registered voter in their district. And all contacts would be recorded and available to any constituent or journalist. I can dream can't I?

What fascinated me about this article was the quote from Bob Inglis to former President Clinton. I imagined myself a fly on the wall when this conversation took place. This is what I would have loved to hear Clinton say to Inglis: "Bob, pack warm clothing, because you are going to HELL!"

I understand the power politicians wield, whether it's for good or bad. What I don't understand is how Norquist, having never run for office, holds so much power. Surely there's a story here.Watch out for Representative Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He's aiming for Obama. The New Yorker called him "...the man most likely to weaken the President before the 2012 elections."My guess is that Norquist and Issa have formed a poioned bond.

JohnnyK, the Republicans represent 49 percent of America, that is how the clown in office Obama got in. Now with more folks with their hands out looking for the workers in America to support them, the Dems just might get control of both houses and the Presidency and cause continuing harm as they did with voting in illegally ObamaCare which will certainly harm all Americans (Pelosi was right, we did need to vote ObamaCare in to see how terrible it is).

JohnnyK, the Republicans represent 49 percent of America, that is how the clown in office Obama got in.

Except for the small fact that Republicans don't even make up 36% of the voting populace (see http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/partisan_trends ) - which kinda sucks for the GOP.

As for "causing great harm" nothing could equal the great harm caused by the GOP having both houses and the Presidency for six years under Bush which had sex scandals, billions flown to Iraq that disappeared (GOP is good with money?) and finally almost destroying our economic system.

Yes, Republicans like to argue how "harmful" Democrats are, but so far in the last 30 years, the BEST Presidency has been under a Democrat.

We are in a place where Republicans will not tolerate a sitting Democrat as President. Whenever this party has the votes, whoever the Democrat is, will be impeached and convicted and removed from office. That is the reality. The best defense against it is indeed making sure that the Republican Party does not control both houses of Congress. Than a Democrat cannot be President. The spectacle of the removal of a Democrat as President and then the removal in turn of his or her Vice President is also something we should look for. What ever happened to putting the national interest first? It is long dead.

[quote name="steve98052"]The Republicans in office have been derelict in their duty to represent their constituents, and instead mostly represent their campaign donors. But trouble-makers like Norquist make matters worse. His pledge demands that Republicans place their loyalty to an ideology -- no tax increases (except on poor people) -- above their obligation to act in the interest of the country and the Constitution.

Isn't betraying one's Oath of Office by taking an oath which goes against the Constitution and the general welfare of the country an Act of Treason?

"Obama has violated the Constitution since he got in office."Are you insane or so blinded by talks how talking points that you actually believe that accusation? If you have evidence of these violations, list them online and forward to the Dept. of Justice immediately. I challenge you to do so in ten days! You won't follow up because you have no such evidence, just your bile and hatred because a Black man is sitting in "your" White House.

Eric Holder has violated the Constitution as well, read J. Chrisitian Adams' book "Injustice" for the details. Obama has gone around the Congress to institute a number of things that are unconstitutional, like giving aid and relief to all the Palestinians he brought into this country and housed and fed them and set them up with welfare. I couldn't care less what color the President is, his policies are terrible and have driven America into so much debt we can probably never pull out of it. Spending rampantly is the problem and Obama wants to spend more and his joke of taxing the 1% would do little to solve anything but will make the poor all warm and fuzzy that they got a pound of flesh from those who are successful. Coach777b, you are the racist brining up Obama's color. I work with fine people who are all colors and ethnicities and they do great work. All I care about is they cover my ass and I cover theirs when the crap hits the fan, and we all do, and it is a matter of life and death for real. You are just clueless as to the real life struggle that has nothing to do with color, it has to do with integrity, go get some for yourself.

Balding eagle,Continuing to bark like a Right-rabid dog? Your essential gripe w/ Obama is that he's part of the strongest (loyal) opposition to the Repubs right now. Your points are pointless. And getting rather boring. Debt? Blame the Bush regime for starting & spiraling it out of control & then dumping it on the Obama Adminstration. Debt gained acsendency from unregulated financial sectors & massive borrowing that the Bushites encouraged so the 1% could further secure their positions at the monetary trough in a feeding frenzy that would rival a Roman orgy. Success by what means, by perpetuating a wider gap of haves/havemores (Repub's elite base) and havenots? The few having too much while the many have too little; a sharp, class antagonism w/ the potential for the political shit to hit the corporate fan. But you have your integrity, while that 1%, Repub & Dem, & their corporate sugar daddies can look down on your from afar & see what they think is an ant.

Eric Holder has violated the Constitution as well .... Obama wants to spend more and his joke of taxing the 1% would do little to solve anything

You know, I really get sick and tired of people throwing "violated the Constitution" if they aren't going to tell us what part of the Constitution they violated.

As for those who stick up for the millionaires - don't they have their own lackey's to do that? I mean, seriously, nothing is more demeaning than someone who is barely making $30,000 a year going to bat for those in Armani suits.

Tax the rich more. Just like the 50's they'll somehow manage to get by lol

Yes , good conservatives, here are your patriotic elected representatives at work! I will watch with glee as this crowd gets winnowed out in the next election. As Barbara K says, "Never vote Republican!"

As Yogi Berra would have said, "This is like deja vu all over again." I remember as if it were yesterday, that the GOP (what's so "grand" about them, anyways?)was out to get Clinton from the second he took his hand off the Bible. It was so obvious. Nothing he could have done would have changed it. They hated his guts and the idiotic Monica affair gave them their excuse. Wasted time, effort, tax payers money, and made us look like fools in the eyes of the world, for what? I doubt if Mr. Obama will do the same dumb thing that Bill did, but the similarity is clear. The "loyal opposition," ("loyal," ha ha), has been out to get him from day one, no matter what he does. And for some pretty un-American, and rotten, reasons. If this is being patriotic Americans, which should be putting the interests of our people first, and stupid politics a distant last, instead of the other way around, then we are in really sad shape. We ARE in sad shape, and it has nothing to do with whether Mr. Obama does a good job or not. Too much HATE and STUPIDITY in this country. My two cents.

[quote name="Lennie"]As Yogi Berra would have said, "This is like deja vu all over again."

You are so right. It is the rottenest bunch of politicians the Repubs have ever slid into DC. Every new crop is worse. The TParty is like what you get after generations of inbreeding. It is a pack mentality and cunning and ruthless. The Oath of their office means nothing. They instead pledge an oath to some egomaniac. A pompous jerk called Grover Norquist. The Founders and the people of their time were more civilized and better educated than most Americans today. Think about it. Who today could have written our Constitution? Who today would have compromised to make a Constitution that could guide and endure for this long? The Republican party has become a clear and present danger to America. They need a devastating defeat to stop their reign of terror and get them out of Obama's way so he can finish getting this country booming again.

When measures designed to be used in "extraordinary" circumstances (impeachment, filibuster, recall) become commonly used upon a simple difference of opinion, you open the floodgates and call for endless mutual retaliations.

All this does is dilute the value and deligitimaze such measure, weakening our institutions in the process. Think "fire alarm" here. It's time for people in politics to grow up, be responsible and live uyp to the oath of office.

I've said for years that the Republicans were pissed because Clinton beat Bush. As far as Republicans were concerned, Bush was _supposed_ to win a second term, and they were of the opinion that Clinton stole the presidency from him. From day one, they were trying to find _something_ on which they could impeach him. His affair with Lewinsky, and subsequently lying about it in court, was NOT an impeachable crime.

George W. Bush, on the other hand DID commit crimes against the Constitution, violated numerous international treaties to which we are not only a party, but the _main_ framers, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Bush needs to be locked away for his crimes for the rest of his miserable life, and needs to take Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and a bunch of others with him.

The Republicans are an evil bunch. The article shows what most of here are up against. Many on these pages are quite critical of Obama-sometimes rightfully so. I tend to defend him as it seems to me we exist in a socially/philosophically conservative country. My brand of politics is based on a rational/humanist ideal of pragmatic radicalism. The pragmatism is a result of understanding that most Americans do not agree with my views.The wool can be easily pulled over the eyes of the apolitical moderate/conservative who may or may not vote. This average American will not protest when a Clinton or Obama is overthrown constitutionally via an "impeachment." And here lies the truth of this method which one must surmise is always on the mind of the radically conservative elected Reps. (See the sour/puckered faces of the Boeners and McConnells et. al at the State of the Union.)Nothing the Pres said was worthy of even the slightest hint of approval by these dour men. Combine these spineless evil-doers with an ignorant, asleep at the wheel populace and there is a ripeness for coup de' tat-via the perfectly legal mechanism of impeachment.

Bring it on Grover (whoever you are.) How's about we impeach justices Thomas for failure to recuse himself, and Chief Justice Roberts for lying to Congress about his legal philosophy? NO ONE PERSON should have this much influence over a political party.

his policies are terrible and have driven America into so much debt we can probably never pull out of it.

I believe you must be talking about St. Reagan?? He doubled the debt. cut taxes in half on wealthy, and triggered the breathtaking income inequality and loss of our manufacturing base we see today and the slow, steady undoing of all things that built our strong middle-class-driven economy. For 30 years the Republicans have had their way and the rest of us have watched OUR USA be dragged down from #1 status in education, science, health, income, infrastructure, jobs, on and on. Kissing the ring of St. Reagan is over. It was a failed experiment that has cost our citizens their homes and their futures. Any Republican whose name is on Grover Norquist's "PLEDGE" SHOULD BE RECALLED. Barb is right. NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN.

I would like ROBTEAGLE to tell this forum what the Republican party has EVER done for the working person in this country. And don't tell us "lowered taxes" because while they threw a few tax cut bucks to us working slobs, they threw billions in tax cuts to their rich friends, corporations and lobbyists. Let's see.....health care?? Umm, nope. Keeping businesses here in the USA?? Um, nope. Making sure there are rules to protect the little guys from the banks and polluters and underhanded health care insurance companies?? Um, nope. Let's hear it from a Republican. One thing that has made life better for working Americans??

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